Thread: William Barr Held in Contempt by House Panel Over Mueller Report

House Judiciary Committee vote comes after President Trump asserts executive privilege over Mueller material

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to recommend the House hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over Robert S. Mueller III's unredacted report, hours after President Trump asserted executive privilege to shield the full report and underlying evidence from public view.

The committee's 24-16 contempt vote, taken after hours of debate that featured apocalyptic language about the future of American democracy, marked the first time that the House has taken official action to punish a government official or witness amid a standoff between the legislative and executive branch. The Justice Department decried it as an unnecessary and overwrought reaction designed to stoke a fight.

The drama raised the stakes yet again in an increasingly tense battle over evidence and witnesses as Democrats investigate Mr. Trump and his administration. By the day's end, it seemed all but inevitable that the competing claims would have to be settled in the nation's courts rather than on Capitol Hill, as Democrats had initially hoped after the initial delivery of Mr. Mueller's report.

"Our fight is not just about the Mueller Report — although we must have access to the Mueller report. Our fight is about defending the rights of Congress, as an independent branch, to hold the president, any president, accountable," said Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Judiciary Committee chairman, during a grueling debate that ended with a vote along party lines...

More:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/u...er-report.html

I hope they continue pursuing the Russian hoax, it ups their stupidity level.

What I don't understand because I haven't really been keeping up with it is why is Trump withholding the report now? He previously said he would release it. So I'm not sure what happened if someone would care to explain.

I think he is just done with it. Politically I think he wants them hooping and hollering for two more years so if they want stuff they'll have to fight for it.

That whole thing was a hoax to begin with and most polls show that very few care much about it.

The House Judiciary Committee just voted Bill Barr in contempt of Congress. Which means basically nothing.

(CNN) — On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over the full, unredacted report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election produced by special counsel Robert Mueller.

BIG deal! Barr's in real trouble now, right?

He is not.

There are actual punishments for being in contempt of Congress -- the Senate or House sergeant at arms can detain the contemptuous person! -- but, in practical terms, none of them will be visited upon the attorney general. He's not going to be jailed for not turning over the full Mueller report -- which he says he can't legally do because it contains grand jury testimony that is illegal to make public without the permission of the witnesses. And even if Congress did ask the White House to authorize a criminal contempt charge for Barr, there's roughly a 0% chance that President Donald Trump would agree to it.

...So why did Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-New York, spend time working to pass a toothless measure? For two reasons:

1) Base service. Nadler wants the liberal base to know he is holding the administration's collective feet to the fire.

2) Legal positioning: Nadler knew the contempt citation wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. But he also knew that by moving to hold Barr in contempt, he would likely force the the White House's hand one way or another.

And he did! In the moments before Nadler's committee held its contempt vote, the White House declared executive privilege over the entire Mueller report.

"Faced with Chairman Nadler's blatant abuse of power, and at the attorney general's request, the President has no other option than to make a protective assertion of executive privilege," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement explaining the move.

(The White House argument, like that of Republicans on Judiciary, is that Barr cannot legally release grand jury testimony -- and, by complying with Nadler's request, he would be doing so.)

"Chairman Nadler is asking the Attorney General of the United States to break the law and commit a crime by releasing information that he knows he has no legal authority to have," Sanders added...

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/05/08/pol...ort/index.html

And he did!

Why the excitement in that statement I wonder? It doesn't seem what he forced their hand to do was that big of a deal. And the writer is a liberal since he's CNN's editor at large. So I wonder why he thinks that is something to be excited about?

Originally Posted by fuego

Why the excitement in that statement I wonder? It doesn't seem what he forced their hand to do was that big of a deal. And the writer is a liberal since he's CNN's editor at large. So I wonder why he thinks that is something to be excited about?

Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

The are going to run with the "cover up" story right into election night when they will once again be stunned and stupefied.

Trump warns of ’warlike posture’ if his opponents investigate him ,,,



That pretty much explains it. After 2 years of hoax reporting/media saturation, Trump don't play that anymore.